Soaring high in Devotion !

Upon this most auspicious day of Sri Radha Ashtami, the sacred birth day of Sri Radha Rani, let us delve into the progressive movement of devotion towards its culmination in the stage of Maha Bhava in the life of a devotee.

In the Srimad Bhagavatam, we find Prabuddha, one of the nine Yogis admonishing king Nimi that it is due to attaining prema-bhakti arising out of sädhana-bhakti, that the devotees do remain in a state of ecstasy thrilled with unspeakable joy and engage in reminding others very much that the Lord is the destroyer of sins.

The striking difference in karma jnäna, and yoga, is that the means and the goal here always remain different. We find Karmis practicing sacrifice and attaining heavenly bliss, Jnanis practicing fourfold Sadhana of Vivek, Viaragya, Sad Sampati and Mumuksuttva and through threefold means of Sravan(Hearing) , manan(Contemplation) and Nididhyasan(Meditation) attaining brahma-säyujya(merging into non-personal Brahman).

And Yogis practicing yama, niyama ,asana, pränäyäma Pratyahara as external sadhana and then Concentration , meditation and Samadhi as internal sadhana for attainment of paramätmä-säyujya(Merging into the Supersoul).

In all these cases, at the stage of perfection, they stop all practice and become absorbed in relishing the fruits of their respective paths.

However there are progressive stages of Bhakti called Sädhana-bhakti, bhäva-bhakti, and prema-bhakti, which initiates from quite immature state to mature ones gradually and strikingly preceding stages of bhakti are the cause of consequent ones. Thus, as a devotee proceeds towards prema- bhakti, his devotional practices multiply. The bliss that the devotee enjoys in sädhana-bhakti is thin, while in the stage of bhäva and prema-bhakti it becomes too dense. This is just like an unripe mango getting ripe thereby losing its sourness to become a very sweet and tasty as well.

Prema gradually enhances into its advanced stages of affection ( sneha), crooked behavior out of deep love ( mäna), deep affection ( praëaya), attachment (räga), deep attachment (anuräga), and finally culminates in mahäbhäva or Supreme ecstasy. The most striking difference one finds here is that unlike milk after becoming yogurt and yogurt culminating into ghee which can’t turn back into previous states anymore, Prema nevertheless attains peak stages without leaving its former states.

These higher stages of prema are the compact states where the realization of sweetness of the Lord increases more and more. The most exalted state of prema is mahä-bhäva , which supremely gets manifested in Sri Radharani . Let us pray fervently upon Her lotus feet for choicest blessings to be showered upon all….. Jai Sri Radhe !